Chernobyl Diaries [DVD]

Was looking for a random shortish movie and chose this. The story premise is a group of privileged young western tourists and their "extreme tour" guide taking a massive risk in entering the exclusion zone around Chernobyl despite being told it was closed for "maintenance", so you start off feeling little sympathy for them until things get a bit scary. A deserted area the size of a town contaminated by radio-activity offers all kinds of possibilities for mutations ghosts or whatever, and since the filming is like "diaries" in that the young people are taking photos and making movies of their trip, a lot of it in the dark, you have to try to make sense of what you hear as well as the little you can see. There's a very effective sound track using a deep, buzzing electric note, very similar to that used in documentaries about 9/11, the Japanese tsunami and Fukushima and the like. The ending, although not entirely satisfactory, reveals what's happening. It has its moments of suspense, so it had my attention for all of its hour and a half.

A plotless scream-filled storyless hour and a half of wobbly-cam-in-the-dark with no resolution and no bothering to give anyone a character that couldn't be expressed in less than a sentence. I watched this for free on Amazon Prime. I'd have been deeply annoyed if I had paid to see it. Best avoided.

Stupid scream filled garbage,Insult to all the people who died as a result of Chernobyl! Probably most of it's audience have never heard of the place or what happened there!!

The sound, lighting and some of the acting were good. very good. Screenplay was very boring. I took a gamble on this based on previous reviews, but half expected it to be another stupid 'horror' where everyone gets killed except a vulnerable young white attractive female....and it was exactly that. shame.Listening to everyone breathing heavily made ME feel light headed. It was the strange sort of quality of writing you would expect from a high school/uni production, very boring and very predictable. by the end I already knew what was going to happen next and exactly when all the BIG surprises were scheduled. ... shame. nice try though. Chernobyl was a decent setting instead of the usual woodlands in the states.

Did seemed dated as one of the characters said they liked the Americans in Russia! Definitely on the side of the positives and interesting that they and the one stars and thereabouts are almost level with each other. One brother doesn't want to go to Chernobyl but outvoted by his brother and their female companions. He just wants to get to Moscow to propose to his one. Ex-army Uri has done the trip for five years and as long as you only stay for a couple of hours you'll be safe from radiation. Well, obviously, they outstay their welcome, if that is the right phrase, and it soon becomes apparent that it is not. Decent acting and unlike the disappointing Blair Witch fuss-about-virtually-nothing the tension gets really tight at times and is competently maintained as well and the ending made me jolt in my seat.

Oh my slurry! This film is Tensely McTense! As a viewer, you are kept guessing as to what the hellingtons is going on until the end. Flaming Nora I nearly couldn't cope!At the time of 'Chernobyl Diaries' being released, Eastern Europeans had become the new Southern American as go to for baddies in horror. Nothing like a lazy stereotype and band waggon jumping to show a lack of true innovative imagination through sheer laziness; as hopeful greed through commercial success. That being said, I really like this film (and I can not say that about too many horror films of the last decade or so).Please Note: thankfully this is [not a torture film] - which I no likey(!); as the focus is substantially tipped in the balance of gore and violence over the expense of characterisation (the latter necessary to emotionally connect to the characters).

Even though I can understand this is a low budget attempt to create a "real life" zombie movie the plot is really dull and the executions in my opinion is very poor. Reminds me of the Blair witch project. Also aside from the name, nothing to do with Chernobyl or Pripyat other than allegedly happening there. One final note, the writers do not understand how radiation works.

They had a great idea to base a story around, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and American thrillseekers who dont understand that no entry means no entry, but Chernobyl diaries makes and awful mess of this idea.The first half of the movie is just humans VS wolves, then we have action scenes with very poor lighting in some tunnels. The tunnels lead to the control room at Chernobyl and I was hoping this movie would be over very shortly since this band of frat kids would be dumb enough to touch the elephants foot but no it went on for a further 15 minutes ugh....